Small-scale funding from AEWA has contributed to the successful conduct of the 2018 annual waterbird counts in Kenya, in the framework of a recently concluded project carried out by conservation NGO Nature Kenya - the East Africa Natural History Society (EANHS). The funding awarded to Nature Kenya under the AEWA Small Grants Fund primarily co-funded some activities related to the conduct of the 2018 International Waterbird Census (IWC) in Kenya, including the training of volunteers involved in the counts.

The Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and its associated Agreements also called the CMS Family took part in the annual UN Day celebrations on Bonn's Market Square on 12 October. Acting Executive Secretary joined the CMS Family team, meeting with Mayor and other city officials, heads other UN agencies, members of the diplomatic corps, and representatives of other organizations participating in the event.

The Republic of Malawi is acceding to AEWA becoming the 80th Party on 1 September.

The Republic of Malawi is acceding to AEWA becoming the 80th Party on 1 September. It is at the same time joining the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). Malawi, capital Lilongwe, is a landlocked country of Southern Africa with a population of 18 million people and an area of 118, 484 km2. It has borders with Zambia and the United Republic of Tanzania to the north and with Mozambique to the south. The Great Rift Valley runs through the country, which also has shores on the west side of Lake Malawi (also known as Lake Nyasa).

Inger Andersen, the newly-appointed Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), came to Bonn to meet the staff of the CMS Family as well as other Bonn-based UN agencies. The visit was part of a series of meetings in Europe, including attending the opening of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Geneva.

The AEWA International Working Group for the Grey Crowned-crane (GCC IWG) met for the first time in Entebbe, Uganda from 24 to 26 July. After intensive discussions, considerable progress was made in drawing up a concrete implementation plan covering the period to 2022, with specific national activities complementing wider regional and international tasks.

The AEWA Secretariat is pleased to share this video entitled “Waterbird Monitoring in Africa: The Chad Experience”, recently released by the Technical Support Unit (TSU) to the AEWA African Initiative. The video was developed with the support of the project “Strengthening expertise in sub-Saharan Africa on birds and their rational use for communities and their environment” (RESSOURCE), in the framework of the Sahelian Wetlands Site component of the Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme.

The International Working Group for the Grey Crowned-crane is meeting for the first time from 24 to 26 July following the adoption of the associated International Single Species Action Plan at AEWA MOP6 in 2015. The primary aim of the meeting is to operationalize the Action Plan by agreeing implementation priorities for the Range States both individually and collectively at a supranational level. Initial focus will concentrate on the next three and half years covering the period 2019-2022. Encouragingly, most of the principal Range States are registered to participate.

The fourth annual meeting of the European Goose Management International Working Group (EGM IWG4) concluded its work in Perth, Scotland, the United Kingdom on Thursday, 20 June 2019. Hosted by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), on behalf of the Scottish Government and chaired by Ms Camilla Uldal, from Denmark, the meeting brought together national government representatives, experts and relevant stakeholders. The annual meeting was preceded by a day of face-to-face meetings of the various Task Forces established under the EGM IWG.